Driving in the dark: Tips and Tricks

Late in the evening and on the roads at night is usually much smaller machines. According to road services, the volume of traffic at night is reduced tenfold. This observation is true of the city streets and highways. However, half of all accidents happen at this time. Why do we see such a paradox?

The fact that the man in the dark sees much worse, and it affects all of the parameters – the accuracy of perception of color, depth, angle of view, and an overview of the peripheral OE This affects the rate of reaction of the driver and on the objective assessment of the dangerous situation on the road, which is cause a significant number of fatal crashes.

At night, such accidents happen three times more often than during the day. First of all, it is – a collision of vehicles (including windshields) and assaults on pedestrians. In addition, late in the evening and at night after the man of the day feeling tired, which also affects the reaction rate and the right actions at risk.

That is why driving at night not only requires special preparation of the car, but also complying with the necessary safety measures on the part of drivers.

So, first of all, night driving because of poor visibility requires special care. Lights car is more or less effectively illuminate only a few tens of meters of a narrow sector of the road ahead. For this reason, the driver sometimes does not have time to make a proper assessment of the real situation, and adequately react to it. To reduce the risk of accidents on the road in the dark, you need to follow some simple tips.

For example, even before the onset of dusk is necessary to include a passing light. When approaching the lift you need to be careful, as a counter top machine can blind. Approaching the descent, we must remember that the machine is on the rise can also be blinded by your headlights. These tips are also valid in respect of turns.

Doctors claim that with age, the rate of reaction of the driver with limited coverage is substantially reduced. In addition, at night on the roads the percentage of drunk drivers are also much higher. This is, perhaps, the basic rules of driving in the evening and at night. But compliance is not enough to make such a trip completely safe.

How to prepare for a night trip the car?

In order to reduce the danger on the road while driving at night, you need to check the technical condition of the car. As is known, the main danger in the dark – it is degraded visibility. Therefore, you must specifically monitor the cleanliness of windows and light fixtures.

During a long trip on the night road of the windshield will break a lot of insects. Because of the dirty glass will not only reduce the overall review. The light from the headlights of oncoming cars will be further dissipated and dazzle the driver. To avoid this from time to time during the night you need to stop and carefully clean the windshield and headlights.

To do this, you must keep in reserve a sufficient number of special wipers. Wiper blades (even with the washer), by the way, to solve this problem not. Smearing mud, visibility will only worsen. Stopping on the road in the dark, left on size, and “emergency gang”.

Safety trip at night depends on the quality of adjustment of lighting. Well adjusted headlights to low beam mode light on the 50 meters, and at the far – 100. Any object that is illuminated by car headlights, the driver perceives as a dark silhouette without small details. In this light clearly visible distance is reduced several times, which should be reflected in the choice of high-speed mode (not more than 50 km/h in the village and no more than 90 km/h on the highway).

Safety night driving

Blinding lights of cars on the wrong side is the main danger. The driver loses the ability to distinguish objects in a few seconds due to the slow adaptation of the sudden illumination change. If oncoming traffic you are still blinded, it is best to pull over and wait a few minutes. Associated with this advice to restrict the use of lighting in the cabin or open flame lighters.

Another danger are wild animals that may appear on the road unexpectedly. If the animal in the headlights appeared sharply, resist the abrupt maneuvers, particularly at high speeds.

Because of fatigue and prolonged stress when driving, even mentally healthy and fully sober driver can observe a rather qualitative hallucinations as a man ran across the road, dips in the pavement or objects on the road. This happens automatically cause reactions – braking or sharp turns. After this hallucination disappears, and the driver, who was faced with this phenomenon better, after all, a little rest.

If you will be a long overnight trip, reduce the brightness of the instruments on the dashboard using a rheostat or just cover the most striking indicators of translucent tape.

When the night on the road you will see one headlight, it should automatically assume the right to avoid a collision, and the maximum pull over to the right. In general, to carry out night oncoming traffic must be at a maximum distance as oversized cargo can not see in the dark.

If the car is yours blind you to the distant light in the rearview mirror, blink his “feet.” If it does not switch to the neighbor, slow down and allow yourself to overtake then the conditioned signal, while being careful not to look in the mirror. Naturally, this also applies to your use of the high beam.

The most dangerous time for driving – it’s not even night and evening or morning twilight. At this time, the efficiency of lighting is reduced and the visibility was still very poor. Thus it is necessary to minimize the speed and increase alertness.

Finally, a few words about the rest. All “folk remedies” such as washing with cold water, strong tea or coffee, loud music, or the presence of a person on the passenger seat are half-measures, which are only briefly distract from sleep. If you feel sleepy, better stop and get some sleep at least an hour. This will be sufficient to restore the response, at least overnight.